Speed skating has been an Olympic sport since the first Winter Games in 1924. Four speed skating events for women were added in 1960. The women's 5,000-meter event was added in 1988, completing the 10-event program used today. Speed skating is split into three classes: long track, short track and marathon speed skating. Long-track speed skating is usually referred to as "speed skating," while short-track speed skating is known as "short track."
Ancient Speed Skating
Archeologists discovered relics in Scandinavia that indicate that primitive people once glided over ice on skates made from bone and straps of leather, but the Netherlands was the first country to make skating a method of transportation and a national passion. Using frozen canals as tracks, the Dutch began speed skating and the sport spread quickly across Europe. It is believed that the first skating competition was a 15-meter race that took place on February 4, 1763, in England.
Speed Skating Equipment
In the Olympics, speed skaters in the outside lane wear a red armband while white armbands are worn by skaters on the inside lane. The blades on men's speed skates are usually 42 to 46 cm. Longer blades are faster, at least until they become cumbersome. Speed skaters wear glasses to protect their eyes from the sun's glare, wind and flying ice chips. Skintight, hooded suits are worn to decrease air resistance. Racing suits must conform to the skater's natural shape. Inserting any type of device into a racing suit to alter a skater's body shape is not permitted.
Short-Track Skates
Short-track ice skates have higher ankles than traditional skates. Customized foot molds made from heavier materials help stabilize short-track speed skaters' feet and ankles while turning tight corners. Also giving short-track skaters an edge around corners are very sharp blades that curve to mirror the angle of turns. Blades are secured left of center on the bottom of the boot so they won't drag on the ice when the athlete leans into turns.
Olympic Sweeps
Eric Heiden, a speed skating great from Madison, Wisconsin, accomplished the greatest single feat in Winter Olympic history when he won all five men's speed skating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The only other person besides Heiden to take all speed skating medals was the Soviet Union's Lydia Skoblikova. Skoblikova took two consecutive Olympic Games to accomplish the feat, however, and did so before the women's 5,000-meter race was incorporated. She won two gold medals in 1960 and four in 1964.
Other Speed Skating Greats
During the 2010 Winter Olympics, short-track speed skater Apolo Ohno became the most medaled Winter Olympian in United States history at the age of 27 years. China and Korea have begun to challenge North America's dominance in the short-track speed skating events in recent years. South Korea was the dominant country during the 2006 Winter Games, as it won six gold and 10 total medals.
Speed Skating Rules
In team speed skating events, men race eight laps around a track while women race six laps. In the 500-meter short-track event, men and women both run the race twice and their times are added to determine the winners. Races are run counterclockwise. Speed skating tracks are oval, but can be open, closed or covered.
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